With the funding in the bill, the IRS has an opportunity to create a new system. that allots $15 million to the IRS to make plans for a free direct e-file tax return system. Those plans would have to be developed within nine months and would include cost estimates for creating and administering a system. They would also require public input.Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.
“I’ve been pushing for a free tax filing system for years, and now the IRS is on the verge of having significant funding to modernize its IT systems, which means it’s time to develop simplified filing tools laid out in my Tax Filing Simplification Act,” Warren told The Associated Press. “Americans spend too much time and money to file their taxes, and the IRS should adopt these proposals to help millions of Americans file taxes and claim refunds.”“There’s no reason in the world that a modern economy shouldn’t have a system that makes it easy for such a large group of taxpayers to file their returns,” she said.
Vanessa Williamson, a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, said “if the IRS moves forward with a free product, it could save lower-income families the money they used to give to H&R Block or TurboTax.” “Tax prep companies are notorious for tricking tax filers into paying for services they should be getting for free,” Williamson said, “so an IRS free file service would be a very welcome step that would save Americans money.”
Dystopian.